Bring Abducted Children Home (BAC Home)
  • Home
  • About
  • How to Donate & Help
  • News & Action
  • Our Kidnapped Children
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • About
  • How to Donate & Help
  • News & Action
  • Our Kidnapped Children
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
  Bring Abducted Children Home (BAC Home)

Australia Leaves Behind Left-Behind Parents

7/9/2011

 
Picture
Susan Sachinelli

Child abductions unfortunately occur all over the world. And while some of the cases are solved, a majority of the cases are not, even when the parent knows who the abductor is – the other parent. A discouraging phenomenon in Australia has been parents, mainly Japanese, abducting the child or children back to Japan. The Australian Embassy located in Japan said in 2010, there were 13 abductions to date.
Despite Japan and Australia having close diplomatic and economic relations, getting these children back is no easy task. What is most unfortunate is the fact that the Australian government has been extremely unhelpful to these left-behind parents. Numerous Australian left-behind parents have not only been left-behind from their children, but believe their government has left them behind as well.

Matt Wyman, an Australian national, whose Japanese wife abducted their two sons to Japan in 2008, said that the Australian government has provided no assistance to date. Furthermore, the judges on a number of these left-behind parent cases were ineffectual and caused the parent to lose all contact with their abducted children. Parents like Matt Wyman have spent thousands of dollars on necessary legal fees only to see no progress. To make matters worse, his Japanese wife is now demanding child support while residing in Japan in which the Australian government simply enforces, although Matt Wyman’s children have been abducted.

Even though the Japanese government signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in March 1994, which provides both parents access to their children, current Japanese laws only allow the Japanese parent to make the final decision regarding if the left-behind parent will receive visitation rights. Currently, Japan does not provide reciprocation to Australian court orders.

In Japan, the idea of “shared custody” is a foreign concept and after a divorce, custody is granted to one parent only. This includes children illegally abducted from the national home of origin. Furthermore, Japanese law clearly states that if the Japanese parent that abducted the child/children dies, the illegally abducted child/children do not go to the parent left behind or another foreign relative. Instead, they are given to the Japanese grandparents.

In the last 55-plus years, there has yet to be a case where a child has been returned to the parent after being abducted to Japan. Therefore, Japan is seen as a safe haven for the abduction of children. In fact, even non-Japanese parents flee with abducted children to Japan and exploit the system there for their own benefit.

Australia is one of the most beautiful locations in the world. There is so much to see and do that it is never a dull moment. However, the beauty of the country is marred by this current situation. Presently, like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Australian Federal Police have been unable or unwilling to extradite parents from Japan who abducted children. Australia needs to do much more to protect all left-behind parents and inhibit further parental abductions to Japan and determine a concrete method to get children back to their left-behind parents.

Comments are closed.

    Categories

    All
    International Parental Child Abduction
    Japan
    Media Coverage
    Op Ed
    Personal Stories
    Public Outreach
    Testifying
    The White House
    United Nations
    U.S. Congress
    U.S. Department Of Defense
    U.S. Department Of State

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    September 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009

    RSS Feed

©2023 Bring Abducted Children Home, Inc.